In the world of social media, the word “friend” gets used quite a bit. Perhaps overused. Many of us get onto Facebook and Twitter to promote ourselves, our businesses, our causes, our points of view. If we’re lucky, we run into like-minded individuals who entertain, enlighten and make us laugh.

In some cases, we get a chance to meet our social media friends and followers in person and get to know the human being behind that avatar. Otherwise, we get to know these virtual friends through their writing, the information they share and any social media interactions.

Last week, I learned that a Twitter connection (and familiar face), Judy Martin (@JudyMartin8) passed away. Shocking to me for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that we had just communicated on Twitter days before her passing.

As a Twitter follower of Judy Martin’s, I enjoyed the information she shared about work/life balance, mindfulness and leadership. After her response to my Tweet, I got to know her a little better by spending 10 or 15 minutes reading posts on her website and listening to part of a guided meditation she produced. The topics she explored resonated with me and I gained a deeper appreciation for her work.

Her passing makes me realize that every day, whether in face-to-face communication or on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, we are leaving a legacy behind. There’s no telling how our stories, words, or a smile (even a virtual one) may help or touch another person at a time when it’s needed.

As I close this post, I realize it might be presumptuous of me to call her a friend – for I never had the opportunity to meet her in person. However, I do feel a deep sense of shock and loss at her passing. I’m sure this is an especially difficult time for those who were close to her. For an amazing tribute to Judy, please visit Lisa Petrilli’s The Sign of a True Leader: A Tribute to Judy Martin.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know I’m a big Donald Miller fan. His A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was a book that got me through some tough times, especially while visiting my mother during her lengthy hospital stay.

But before I read that book, I read Miller’s 2003 bestseller, Blue Like Jazz. As someone who’s spent a good amount of time questioning and understanding my faith, I could strongly identify with Miller in the book as he explored his own. Filled with humor, wit and some deep thoughts, the book’s cover describes it as “nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality.”

After reading the book, it was great to learn that a movie was in the works…and this process was explored at length in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

But beyond the thoughts and ideas that are part of Don Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, is the interesting way this movie got produced. Back in September 2010, the movie was put on hold because additional money was needed to produce it. Enter Zach Prichard and Jonathan Frazier who launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the film. Ultimately more than 4,400 people raised $345,992 to help make Blue Like Jazz a movie reality. For more details about the campaign, visit the Save Blue Like Jazz site.

As a communications major who studied film and video production in college, I would have never dreamed something like Kickstarter would be around to help make so many creative dreams a reality.

If you’re interested in seeing the movie, there’s a month-long promotional tour through March before it opens officially on April 13. Please check the BLJ Tour Site for dates and locations.

So how about you…have you read Blue Like Jazz or plan to see the movie? What do you think of the trailer? If you could create a Kickstarter campaign, what would it be? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

From a marketing perspective, I really like Mutual of Omaha’s “A-ha Moments” campaign. While I don’t think each of our aha or lightbulb moments can actually be sponsored (just as Kleenex would not sponsor my next sneeze), I do love how Mutual of Omaha used their commercial to help share a-ha moments from people across the country. The other night I was sitting at my computer with the television on in the background when I heard a familiar voice, Joe Heuer better known as the “Rock N Roll Guru.” He was talking about his philosophy and his a-ha moment. I was sucked in and replayed the commercial several times on my DVR.

This video fits well with my last post about our work stories. Joe’s video here is a great example of someone’s face lighting up when they talk about their life’s purpose. It’s something all of us should strive to discover if we don’t know it already.

I’ve also got a confession to make…I’ve been an admirer of Joe’s since he sent me a copy of his eBook, Dream Tweets. While I never got around to officially reviewing it on my blog, I was really blown away. It’s filled with bite-sized words of wisdom. And because I’m such a rock-n-roll fan, Joe’s message really resonates with me. Joe, if you’re reading this, I’m hoping that one day I’ll run into you at Summerfest as we wait in line for drinks during one of the shows. For me, there’s nothing like talking music (especially classic rock) with passionate music fans.

More than ten years ago, during a time of great personal uncertainty and challenges in my life, I decided to take a series of yoga classes at my local YMCA. I learned many things about myself through those classes and, in honor of September being National Yoga Month, I will share five things I learned (and continue to learn) from yoga.

1. Patience. My closest friends will tell you I’m a pretty patient person, however they don’t sit with me in my car stuck in Chicago traffic. During those moments, you can find me occasionally cursing like a sailor, yelling and muttering to myself in disbelief. One thing I can remember vividly from taking those classes is when class was over and I returned to my car, I felt patient. Honestly, I didn’t care about being right or getting cut off in traffic. Gone was my need to speed up and get to the next destination in a hurry.

2. Flexibility. This is obvious…the more stretching you do, the more flexible you’ll get. One of the first things I noticed when I started doing yoga is how different I felt when I walked. I felt taller and my legs felt stronger – like I had a carefree bounce to my step. But I’ll argue that, as much as yoga helps you to become more flexible in a physical sense, it helps you to become more flexible mentally. I can’t explain it, but this has always been true for me. It feels like my ego takes a back seat to a better version of me when I do yoga.

3. Comfort. Prior to taking a yoga class, I had a number of problems with my neck and back. I kept pulling muscles every time I carried in groceries and I once had an allergic sneeze attack that was so painful, I needed to see a chiropractor. After a series of visits to my chiropractor and physical therapist, I decided to take my yoga class. The process of doing my exercises and yoga has helped me to be pain free. It’s difficult to put a price on comfort.

4. Inner Peace. In addition to patience, I feel a sense of inner peace from doing yoga. I think a good part of this is because of yoga’s focus on the breath and the present moment. Yoga is very meditative and it grounds you. I’ve learned that, even though the world can often feel busy and chaotic, yoga helps me feel at peace despite all the forces that are pulling me in different directions.

5. Bliss. Quite simply, I feel happier when I do yoga. Enough said.

I still do yoga stretches just about every day. I cannot tell you how great it is to start the day doing the sun salutation pose. But, sometimes when I do my stretches at home, I forget to breathe properly. One thing that’s great about yoga classes is the constant reminder of your breath. I don’t know how a yoga teacher feels about this, but yoga poses without the focus on your breathing is more like stretching.

It has been more than ten years since I’ve taken a yoga class and I hope to get back to “class” soon. I’ll never forget how my classes got me through some rough times and opened my eyes to a new reality. If you haven’t tried yoga or you feel a little “out of sorts,” I’d highly recommend taking a class. Usually these classes are drop-in and cost roughly $10 and even free at some locations.

Truth be told, I’m not familiar with John O’Donohue, but I found this video to be amazing and a great start to the new year. Upon further investigation I learned that O’Donohue was an Irish poet, philosopher and former Catholic priest who passed away exactly two years ago today…

If you enjoyed the video and are curious to learn more about O’Donohue, please visit the archives of the NPR program Speaking of Faith (Now called On Being), where you can listen to Krista Tippett’s interview with him in a show titled “The Inner Landscape of Beauty”.

I’ve been a huge fan of blogger Christine Kane for a couple years. When I first discovered her blog, I was amazed at all of the great bits of wisdom that she dispensed. Not only is she a talented blogger and performer (I’ve seen her live and she’s great), but she’s also a creativity consultant and success coach.

One of the things that she’s done the last couple years with her blog readers is to have them pick a word for the year. In her original post, she called it “Resolution Revolution.” No, this is not a new year’s resolution…its more like a personal mantra. According to her blog, this one word is a “way of setting intention for (the) whole year.”

This month, she’s featuring guest posts from her readers who chose a word for this year. Some examples of these words include: rejoice, change, courage, confidence, gratitude, love, clarity, peace, joy, beauty and creativity. Chances are, there’s a word out there that describes how you want to approach the new year.

This “one word” thing is brilliant because I don’t really believe in new year’s resolutions or even new year’s goals. I’ve tried ’em before and they are forgotten by February or early March. I also witness the onslaught of new members at my YMCA every January, only to see many of them invisible in a few months.

This year, as the new year approaches, it is my intention to choose a word for 2010. It’s a word that, I hope, will sort of guide me through the year during good times and bad. My word: LAUGHTER.

I’ve got a confession to make: I don’t laugh enough. I may think I do, but I know I should be laughing more. Yeah, we all have challenges and things that bring us down. But I feel committed to really LMAO in 2010 no matter what is happening in my life. I’m not talking giggles, I’m talking big, hearty belly laughs (even though my heartiest laughs tend to be quiet).

This might mean that I have to revisit some of my favorite funny movies including Spinal Tap, Austin Powers, Airplaine!, Naked Gun, Borat and Jackass! (I know, this is really stupid, but I can’t help laughing hysterically when I see it). I’ll likely be listening to some of my favorite comedians such as Mitch Hedberg, Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Chris Rock and Steven Wright.

I also realize that some of the funniest moments we can experience are the ones that happen right in front of us all the time. Its a matter of having the right attitude and awareness.

UPDATE 12/26: I just noticed that Chris Brogan mentioned that he usually selects three words for the year, which is another very cool idea similar to Christine Kane’s one word for the year. To check out Chris’ post on this subject, including a recap of words he chose in 2008 and 2009, check out today’s post called “Wiring Yourself for Success”. Hmm, I may need to add to my one word….